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Nox
The Nox were a race humanoid in appearance but post-human in ability native to the Milky Way planet of Velieris. In ancient times, they were a founding member of the original Alliance of Great Races alongside the Furlings and Alterans. Following the group's fracture, the Nox largely isolated themselves, hiding their advanced technology behind powerful cloaking fields and showing no outward signs of their existence. When SG-1 stumbled upon their world and revealed them for what they truly were, though, they began to take a more proactive stance in intergalactic affairs. In addition to helping the Tau'ri on numerous occasions, the Nox re-established the Alliance after the war with the Ori, inducting the most-powerful factions at the time into it. Even with the rapid advancement of other peoples, the Nox remain one of the most technologically superior races in the galaxy. Recently, civil unrest has emerged on Velieris due to the Ruling Council's abrupt decision to abandon their traditional pacifism and openly engage hostile forces. In light of the Fall of Earth and the subsequent fragmentation of the Alliance, the Nox implemented a plan to ensure the defeat of the their enemies in the Der'kal Invasion , one that involved the destruction of their homeworld and the annihilation of their people. History Origins and the Alliance Many tens of millions of years ago, the Nox were one of the few advanced races in the Milky Way Galaxy, a place otherwise devoid of much life. They had had rudimentary dealings with the Furlings, but kept to their own quadrant of space for their own reasons, content to study and explore at their own pace. This continued for many years, as far back as records can show, until the arrival of the Alterans. The strange and curious new peoples quickly made contact with the Nox and Furlings and established trade relations at once. Before long, the three groups found themselves locked into a triangle of economic dependence, though it escaped no one that the Alterans always seemed more-free of this arrangement than the other two. As if sensing the growing unease with the current state of affairs, the extragalactic aliens proposed a mutual defensive agreement, a plan which would one day blossom into the Alliance of Great Races. Seeing the great benefits they could gain, the Nox agreed immediately, and the Furlings soon joined, as well. For the next several million years, peace and prosperity were the currency of galactic life. Following the Asgard's addition to the Alliance, it came to the attention of the Nox that the Furlings were developing extremely-sophisticated AIs for use aboard their warships. Although this somewhat-alarmed the Ruling Council, they opted to stay out of their ally's affairs and not inform the Alterans. This would later prove to be a disasterous mistake, as the same computer intelligence the Furlings had so relied on would turn against them, sparking the AI War, which would divide the Alliance and pit the four groups at each others' throats. When the dust finally settled, the Furlings fled the galaxy and the Alterans, struck by a plague from beyond the galactic rim, began plans to evacuate the Milky Way for the nearby Pegasus Galaxy. With their allies rapidly fading away, the Nox again turned isolationist, avoiding even the Asgard, and buried their knowledge of war. Adopting complete pacifism, they vowed to never again be the cause of such carnage as the last conflict. Alone For the next few million years, the Nox never left their homeworld, watching as the Goa'uld slowly took over the galaxy the Alliance had worked so hard to safeguard. As world by world fell to the parasitic aliens, fewer and fewer Nox spoke out in defense of the humans. By the time Earth was discovered by Ra, not a single one entertained the thought of assistance on their part. Their disconnect from the rest of the Milky Way was complete, and the System Lords ruled unchallenged for the next 10,000 years. During this time, the great ships that the Nox had constructed for use during the AI War sat in underground hangers on Velieris. Even as the the origins of the Tok'ra sent out the call for all able races to stand against the Goa'uld, the Ruling Council made no moves to reactivate the cruisers, and so they lay unused, time slowly ticking by. Even their technological advancement ceased, and the great civilization that had once been the Nox withered away. Earth's influence After so long in isolation, the Nox were unused to visitors arriving through their stargate. The occasional hunter come to examine their wildlife would pass through, and once in a great while, one of the System Lords would arrive to survey a planet he or she believed to be empty, then leave. When SG-1 appeared one day, intent on ambushing the Goa'uld called Apophis, the Nox watched with curiosity, not certain how to react to the humans wandering around the jungles armed with what appeared to be primitive weaponry. As soon as the nearest Nox, led by Ohper, realized that they intended to kill the System Lord, they sprang into action, turning him invisible as necessary and reviving all those killed in the fighting, both Jaffa and human alike. A younger but more open-minded Nox by the name of Lya was killed, but her brethren used their [| highy-evolved abilities]] to heal her injuries and spare her. Once SG-1 was informed that they were "too young" to form an alliance with the Nox, they were sent back to Earth through the stargate, which itself was buried afterwards to prevent another such incident. Over the next several years, the Nox continued their show of isolationism, but Lya ventured into the galaxy from time to time, helping to resettle the Tollan and protect them from the actions of the American government. She would later travel to Tollana to arbitrate a dispute between the Goa'uld and the Abydonians, and then vanished for some time, leading Earth to wonder if her people had befallen some sort of tragedy. In reality, though, Lya was preoccupied on Velieris telling the extraordinary story of the Tau'ri to the current Ruling Council, which included her father, Antaeus, an extremely influential politician and one of the few to acknowledge the good his people were capable of if they stepped beyond their home. The debating lasted well into the Ori invasion of the galaxy, and for a time, it seemed as if no progress would ever be made. But then the ISGC sent out a distress call that they were under attack, Lya went before the committee and demanded that if they did not authorize her to power up the ancestral ships, she would do it herself. Not seeing any choice, and assuming that it was only the Goa'uld going after Earth, they gave the go-ahead, and she set off with a small flotilla of warships to the Sol System. In the days ahead, the Nox would join in the galaxy's defense against the Ori, and would be instrumental in their defeat, giving the beleaguered Free Jaffa Nation the rest it needed to replenish its forces. As members of the untested coalition, the Nox participated in the Third Battle of Chulak, which officially ended the conflict in the Milky Way. The Alliance reborn Several months after the Ori defeat in their home galaxy, the Ruling Council honored Lya and Anteaus' request to reform the Alliance of Great Races in spirit of the unheard-of level of cooperation the galaxy's denizens demonstrated in the back half of the last war. Calling together numerous representatives on Heliopolis, they outlined their plan and got the pledged support of the new members of the group; the Tau'ri, the Jaffa, the Hebridanians, and the Tok'ra. As of the Der'kal Invasion, the Nox are active members of the Alliance and steadfast warriors in the ongoing conflict. Civil war may loom on the horizon for their people, though, as a schism is quickly developing between those Nox who support the Ruling Council's decision to return to war and those who fear it will doom them and their world. Ultimately, however, the question was never answered, as the Nox committed mass suicide toward the end of the war with the alien invaders to ensure their eventual defeat, securing a key victory for their allies and finally passing on their mantle to the younger races. Physiology One of the oldest known species, the Nox possess many abilities similar to those of the Ancients just prior to their ascension. While physically they are quite frail and human-esque in stature, their mental prowess is incredible, and it is likely that they utilize far more brain power than modern-day men and women on Earth. Nox usually boast pale skin and grass-like hair in which berries and leaves curl and wind through, a visible manifestation of their environmentalist ideals. The eldest of the species can reach five-hundred years of age, with children reaching full maturity by the age of eighteen. Once a Nox reaches adulthood, however, their aging slows down to an almost imperceptible rate, and they continue in this strange growing pattern for most of the rest of their lives. It is only during the last two centuries of a Nox's life that they begin to appear physically old as a human would. Evolved Abilities Heightened Intellect: The Nox are an extremely intelligent and perceptive race, with individuals capable of performing complex arithmetic in fractions of a second. Eidetic Memory: They also possess an astounding ability to comprehend and retain information with near perfect recall; once a Nox has heard something, they rarely ever forget it. Heightened Perception: Nox make use of the same five senses as humans, but also have what would appear to be a form of extrasensory perception. They have an uncanny ability to predict danger and "read the writing on the walls." Bio-electrical Tuning: In addition to this, the Nox possess the innate ability to tune into the bio-electrical fields within other beings, in a sense "reading" them at a level far beyond normal senses. They are capable of also channeling their natural heightened perception into a number of extraordinary abilities that include the ability to learn languages after hearing them spoken for only a short time, a mild form of mind reading that allows them to detect nearby surface thoughts, and the ability to heal others. With the latter ability, which they refer to as the Ritual of Life, the Nox are capable of completely healing the most severe of injuries and even resurrect the recently deceased so long as the tiniest amount of molecular activity as well as bio-electrical energy remains within the body. Culture .]] Befitting their love of nature, the Nox have a culture of honor and respect to the environment around them, and an unyielding love of life in all its forms. In their early days of high technology, they so feared harming their homeworld that they relocated all of their settlements to floating piers, and to this day, city-platforms can be seen hovering in the clouds above the surface of Velieris. In the past, the Nox practiced a philosophy of absolute pacifism and non-violence that was so strict that they went so far as refusing to defend themselves when threatened. Should a Nox have found oneself in such a situation, they tended to simply hide through the use of their stealth technology. This policy was so a part of what the Nox felt made them who they were that others within their domain were forced to obey their laws at all times, regardless of situation. Should visitors attempt to employ violence against one another, the Nox simply "remove" their weapons. being used to resurrect Lya.]] The Nox race highly value freedom; both for themselves and for the others. They refuse to infringe the rights of others for free choice except where such individuals choose to make use of violence or war-like ways. As such, the Nox accept no authority except their own and thus refuse to allow others to impose their views on others. This has led some galactic citizens to view them as somewhat elitist and arrogant, though the Ruling Council would argue that the "young simply do not understand." Technology As a member of the ancient Alliance, the Nox possess technology far beyond that of most other races. In addition to staples such as shields, weapons, and hyperdrives, they also have a wide array of cloaking generators, their technology of choice for tasks from warfare to daily life. Prior to their entry in the Ori Crusade, the city-platforms on Velieris were hidden at all times. Now, however, they are visible, a necessary measure as the Nox take on more and more refugees fleeing from the Der'kal. Nox warships are capable of engaging Der'kal cruisers two-on-one, though Lya has stated that any more would be pushing the limits of their defensive technology. Unlike the ships of the Ori or Ancients, their shields have been known to fail long before they have inflicted disproportionate casualties on the enemy, indicating that shielding may be a technology they gained from another Alliance member long ago and did not develop on their own. External links * * Category:Nox